


Sign Language

by ShaneVansen



Category: Standoff
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-15
Updated: 2010-02-15
Packaged: 2017-10-07 07:02:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/62626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShaneVansen/pseuds/ShaneVansen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emily talks with her hands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sign Language

**Author's Note:**

> Ro deserves mad props for all the work she put into helping me revise this little ficlet; I don't think I've ever made so many changes to such a short story! Many thanks also to Phrenitis for her suggestions on making this better.
> 
> For Alianne, 'cuz I've been teasing her about posting this for way too long. *g*
> 
> Originally posted to LJ August 2007.

Emily talks with her hands.

After more than a year working together, Matt doesn't need to hear her speak in order to know her mood; her hands give it all away. When she's excited or distraught, whether she's being persuasive or countering an argument, if she's worried or shocked, he can always tell based on what her hands are doing. They're rarely still.

Her expansive gestures tell him she's passionate about what she's saying, while shorter movements mean she's trying to make a point. Her fingers rub against her forehead or cover her face when she's worried or upset, and she fiddles with a pen or whatever's handy if she's distracted, especially when she's on the phone. When he manages to really surprise her, Emily presses her palms flat against her stomach. She's constantly expressing herself, whether she knows it or not.

Matt talks with his hands too. He just does it in a less obvious way.

He brushes a hand down Emily's arm when he wants her attention. His hand on her shoulder reminds her that he's got her back, and when she's distressed his fingers against her cheek are intended as reassurance. A hand on the small of her back tells everyone else that Emily is with him. At night, when they're naked and tired and comfortable beneath the sheets, Matt trails his fingers along the bare skin of her arm and back, or rests his hand on her hip or stomach. Those touches tell her what he can't say, not in words. Not yet.

When she talks with her hands, he understands what Emily is saying. He wonders, sometimes, if she understands him.

_\--end--_


End file.
